


Forsaken

by KouPriest



Category: Castlevania (Cartoon)
Genre: Castlevania Season 3 Spoilers, Castlevania Series Spoilers, Episode: s03ep10 Abandon All Hope (Castlevania), F/F, F/M, Fanfiction, M/M, Multi, Polyamorous Character, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:27:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28025469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KouPriest/pseuds/KouPriest
Summary: Adrian is on the verge of abandoning all hope and forsaking all of humanity entirely. Likewise, Trevor is on the verge of forsaking himself as well has his family, the renowned, betrayed Belmonts. What will happen when our dear trio is reunited at last? When Sypha and Trevor see what Adrian has done and hear his story, if they're even permitted to hear it? When Trevor discovers a horrible secret about himself and his family? When they all find out about Camilla's wicked plans for the future? They can only hope to not be forsaken.
Relationships: Alucard | Adrian Tepes | Arikado Genya/Trevor Belmont, Alucard | Adrian Tepes | Arikado Genya/Trevor Belmont/Sypha Belnades, Hector/Lenore (Castlevania), Morana/Striga, Trevor Belmont/Sypha Belnades
Comments: 2
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas, FloweryBubbleDragon (Wattpad)! I hope you can enjoy this because honestly I've got no long-term plan for this and am coming up with it as I go!

[ **Prologue** ](https://my.w.tt/UwutPGfutcb)

The wind howls about, tearing at the trees and shaking leaves loose. Walking underneath the cover of the trees, the blonde dhampir keeps his brows pressed and furrowed, taking a straight path back towards the castle.

In his hand he tightly grips a basket filled with what would become his dinner, his knuckles white. He walks in silence for a while before beginning to speak to himself like the madman he truly believed himself to be now.

"Well." He utters. "I suppose I could have put up big signs all over the place."

He stares forward, gaze unwavering as he finally comes through the trees and to the castle, once his father's, and now inevitably his.

"Do not enter. Danger of death. Abandon all hope." The male scoffs, though he was far from amused. He continues walking up to the castle, passing finally between the two pikes that stood guard before the stairs leading up to the entrance, the bloody corpses impaled upon them in their night-clothes, an omen, a warning enough to ward off any future "visitors".

"That sort of thing." He makes his way up the stairs, not even having to move a hand as the doors open before him and allow him inside.

He clenches his jaw. "But this seemed to work well enough for dead old dad." He enters the castle and the large double doors slam shut behind him, the sound loud enough to startle the animals in the forest around the castle, sending them all scuttling for safety.

**━━━━━━━━┛ ✠ ┗━━━━━━━━**

"It's been a year already." Sypha sighs as she leans against the tired Belmont.

Trevor holds onto the reins, keeping his eyes on the dirt road ahead of them. "A year and two months if you wanted to be more exact." He mumbles.

The Speaker huffs and hits his shoulder. "That doesn't make me feel any better, you know." She complains. "We should have gone back to visit him before now! He must be feeling terribly lonely there in that big, old castle all by himself. He probably thinks we're horrible friends."

"I didn't realize we were friends." Trevor shakes his head and grabs her hand before she could hit him again. "I'm joking."

Sypha grimaces at him and takes her hand back, crossing her arms. "You'd better be." She closes her eyes. "I wonder how he's been. I hope he'll like our gifts."

"I'm sure that he's fine. And if you're the one giving him the gifts then he'll like them. Trust me." Trevor rolls his eyes.

The woman grins cheekily, kissing his cheek. "He would think you'd cursed them if you gave them to him, so you're right for once, my dear Belmont."

Trevor nudges her. "Cut that out, already. Why don't you get some sleep before nightfall? There's still a few hours of daylight left." He offers, really just wanting her to stop nagging him so he could focus on navigating and getting them to where Dracula's— _err_ —Alucard's castle was stationed permanently over the Belmont ruins.

"I think I will." Sypha muses and turns to climb into the back of the wagon to lay down and get some shut-eye. They were still a good couple weeks out from arriving at the castle, but it was good for the both of them to get as much sleep as they could with all the monsters still roaming about that they had to kill as they were come across. There weren't as many as there had been a year ago, but they were still around, hiding, lurking, waiting for someone to fall into a trap and to be devoured or slaughtered for the fun of it.

"Sleep well." Trevor calls after her, sighing heavily under his breath as he focuses on the road again, slouching as he considers various things himself, only slightly worried in comparison to Sypha's worry over their dhampir friend. _The bastard better be taking care of himself._

**Chapter 1**

Moving steadily along the bumpy road, the covered wagon creaks and groans. Trevor, like always, sits up at the front, holding to the reins, and guiding them along on their trip. Sypha, at least, was awake this time, and fiddling around with various trinkets that she had collected over their year's worth of shenanigans, laying across her grumpy lover's lap.

"Treffy..." She starts.

The male grunts. "Don't start with that. I know what you're going to say, and you don't need to say it. I told you that it's fine." He says.

Sypha sulks, pursing her lips into a thin line and fidgeting for a bit longer before speaking again. "But we abandoned him, Trevor. Abandoned him. A-B-A-N-D-O—" She was cut off by Trevor's hand covering her mouth.

"I may be an idiot, but I can spell the word, Sypha," he shakes his head. "We did not abandon him. We went on to travel and kill leftover monsters that his father had left behind. He knew that. He wanted to stay and take care of the castle and my family anyway."

"Yes, but we left him there all by himself. That alone would get to anybody, especially in such a big and dreary castle like that one. But! On top of that, we had all just killed his father. His _father_ , of all people." Sypha whines.

Trevor gives her a short stare. "And his father was Dracula. A monster and a murderer. A psychopath that was out to destroy all of humanity and had tried even to destroy him for standing in the way." He scoffs.

The Speaker tsks at him and finally sits up, putting the trinket into the back of the wagon again. "It doesn't matter. He was a bad guy, yes, we all agree. We all knew what needed to be done. But Dracula was still Alucard's father, and I'm sure that somewhere Alucard still loved him in spite of all that he had done. Remember the reason especially for why Dracula chose to end humanity. It wasn't merely insanity. He was enraged and wounded. His wife had been killed by the Church, by humans."

"And my family was killed by the Church, by humans, so what's your point?" Trevor responds bluntly.

Sypha growls and hits him on the shoulder frustratedly. "And that's very unfortunate as well, Trevor, and I'm sorry, and I'm glad that you didn't turn into a bloodthirsty monster out for some sort of horrible, nonsensical revenge like Dracula did, but you didn't have to kill a relative. You didn't have to kill someone who you loved and I'm sure somehow loved you back, did you?" She puffs.

"Of course I didn't. Get your foot out of my ass, I know what you're saying, damn it." Trevor rolls his eyes and rubs his shoulder. She hit harder whenever their argument was about their blonde-haired dhampir friend.

"Well if you know what I'm saying, then why are you being such a thick-headed arsehole?" Sypha smacks him again.

Trevor winces and just holds his poor arm to himself and away from the mean woman. "All I am saying is that he had told us to go. He wanted us to. He probably needed the time by himself, anyway. I'm sure he wouldn't have really wanted to grieve his father in front of us, after all of that. We had stuff to do, and he had stuff to go. It's as simple as that—don't you dare hit me again, you witch!" He lunges out of the way of her next assault.

Sypha withdraws her hand in defeat, leaning against him once more, her head resting upon his broad shoulder. "I know... I just can't help but to still feel bad about it. I feel like we owed him more than that... We could have and should have been better friends to him when you and I both know that he has no one else there for him..." She murmurs.

The Belmont sighs softly and wraps his free arm around the smaller body, holding her close against his side. "Your heart's too big."

"I have the feeling that your heart is bigger than mine, Treffy," the woman muses.

Trevor snorts. "And what gives you that feeling?"

"Oh, nothing in particular. It's just a woman's intuition kind of thing, know?" Sypha giggles, nuzzling her face into his shoulder and finally relaxing some more. She amuses herself by playing with the ends of his raven hair, curling them with her fingers. "It's getting long again. Maybe you should grow yours out like Alucard," she teases.

"Not happening." He says, light-hearted for now at least, though, calmer and gentler than he had been a few minutes before. He was like this with her most of the time. He was a major douche-bag half of it, but the other half he was just a giant teddy bear with the biggest heart. She was clearly right in saying that his was bigger than hers, in many more ways than just the one. Alucard, from what he had seen travelling with them before, could most probably testify to that.

Sypha simply smiles again and closes her eyes, just enjoying the peaceful and quiet moment with the monster slayer, her dear, dumb Belmont.

**━━━━━━━━┛ ✠ ┗━━━━━━━━**

The blonde male sighs as he sits back down at the table, swirling around the contents in his glass, watching it blankly. He looks back over at the two dolls sitting on the counter across from him, the one in Trevor Belmont's likeness and the other in Sypha Belnades's likeness. He observes them for a minute before shaking his head and downing the rest of his glass. He stands once more and moves to wash the said glass out, placing it aside and then going to scoop the dolls up into his hands.

"How much more will it take before I'll need to be dealt with like my father?" He muses, sneering as he walks with the dolls, keeping his eyes on them.

"In my eyes you're as good as a monster already, vampire Jesus," he mumbles, mimicking the growl that Trevor always seemed to like to speak with. It made him seem manlier, Adrian supposed, but really, he just seemed like more of a mindless brute to the dhampir.

"Nonsense, Treffy, you're being horrible. What he did makes sense, it's all logical and smart," he mimics Sypha now, walking to the closest library and flopping down onto a sofa.

Adrian sighs softly and tosses the dolls onto the sofa beside himself, holding his face in his hands now and taking a few long and slow minutes to recollect himself after his bout. "What was I supposed to do? Lay still and let them kill me?" He scoffs. "Belmont would have killed them just as easily as I had." He props his head up with his hand, using the armrest for support. He glances around the room and then stops at the portrait of his father on the wall. He looks it over for a minute.

"He wouldn't have done that with the corpses, though." Adrian mumbles. "Not Belmont, anyway." He stands and walks over to the portrait, reaching up and touching its frame, lingering a moment before carefully pulling the portrait off of the wall and placing it face-down on the desk. "Father wasn't entirely wrong. Much of humanity is corrupted. Traitorous. Cruel."

Leaving the painting alone on the desk, Adrian leaves the room again, heading aimlessly down the halls and just surveying again all of the work that still needed to be done to clean the castle up and restore it. He hadn't done much here, after all. He couldn't particularly come up with a reason to anymore, anyway. _It's not like anyone but I will be able to see the state it resides in. Why bother?_

He takes a moment in the grand hall, gazing up at the portrait of his mother. He exhales softly, allowing a small smile to grace his lips for but a moment, then turning to continue his path down to the entrance room. It was the only room he had bothered cleaning, repairing, and restoring as of yet. If anything, this was the only room that most people would be seeing, most people he was preferring to be no one now. He wouldn't be so open as to trusting just trusting anyone now. Not after Sumi and Taka's stinging betrayal, still hot and searing on his mind and heart even a year since.

"What about them?" Adrian murmurs, stopping again on the stairs down to the entry room. He rests his hand on the rail, tapping his fingers as he thinks. "It's unlikely they will be coming back. They will be off ridding of the remaining demons. They'll probably get married; I can see it now." He muses, his voice a little shaky as he speaks the last bit. He didn't know why he felt so disappointed if that were the case, which he wouldn't ever probably find out, but he did. _This is ridiculous._ He sighs softly and finishes taking the stairs down to ground level, rubbing his face. "If they did come back around, it wouldn't be for me. Belmont would return for his family's hold. Sypha would be searching for something to learn. They have no use for me now that Dracula is dead. That was the only reason we all came together, after all. We hardly know anything about each other, so it wouldn't be logical to just assume that the three of us are true friends." He reasons to himself.

"...of course, if the two of them have remained together over the past year they would know more about each other, so they are closer and better equipped to remain together—all the more reason for them to forget about me." Adrian mutters.

He abruptly stops and slams his hands down onto the table against the wall. "What am I doing?" He grunts. "I must have become a madman..." He looks around slowly. "I need another drink." Turning, he was about to head back to the kitchen, that is, until he heard the crunching and the achy turning of the wheels, a wagon on the only path that headed towards the castle—not all the way to the castle, but closest to it. The wagon would have to turn off and through the forest at a point to get the rest of the way there. It wouldn't do that, though. It was probably just travelers passing by on their way to the closest village a few dozen miles west of the castle. Typical people would not willingly come to Dracula's castle, Dracula dead or not. They would believe in a curse or something of equal absurdity.

Adrian waits a moment in the doorway of the kitchen, listening carefully. It was also the middle of the night. Typical people would not be travelling through the night, either, not with the occasional demons still lingering about, and not this close to the castle.

As the wagon came closer and closer, Adrian began to sweat. He grits his teeth, straining to hear even better than he already could. The travelers were not speaking. He could hear their hearts and their breaths finally, however. One sounded lighter, a female, and she sounded asleep. And the other, it was deeper, heavier, a man. He listens a moment more before deciding. He turns quickly and returns to the entry room, pacing before grabbing the large wooden rod and placing it across the doors to prevent them from being opened. He leans his head against a door, sighing as he listens to the wagon come closer, turning off of the dirt path and into the forest, heading for his direction.

"Of all the people..." The dhampir mutters, closing his eyes. He steps away from the doors as the wagon approaches the castle at last, and he goes up the stairs once more to find a quieter place in order to properly ignore the visitors, not wanting to see them right now. He doubted after they saw the warning signs out front that they would want to see him, either.

It was just a matter of time before he would find he had ruined everything for himself again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone! Here we go for my first Castlevania fanfiction. So, I have a few notes I would like to give out first here.
> 
> So, between the end of season 2 and the beginning of season 3, a month has passed, as Adrian states in the first scene of the first episode during his dinner scene. I am too lazy to actually calculate and go rewatch everything again, so I am assuming a month is the time through the season.
> 
> This fanfiction obviously picks up a year after the ending of season 3. The first scene in this prologue is the very last scene in season 3. So, it has been a year and two months since the trio have seen each other.
> 
> That's all the notes I have for so far that you should need to know, so cool. Thanks for reading and don't forget that if you liked it give it some kudos and maybe leave a comment! Share as you will!
> 
> Merry Christmas, everyone.


	2. Chapter 2

Was the grim truth better than the horrendous assumption?

Sypha sure hopes so. She had just woken up and crawled into the front of the wagon with Trevor when they were coming out from under the trees and on the front side of the castle. As they came closer, that’s when the two had seen them. The pikes. With bodies on them. She turns her head and covers her mouth. Yes, she has dealt with many nasties, but she had not expected it right when she first got up, not right now at the very least.

The Belmont scrunches his brow as he stops the horses and jumps off the wagon, walking to investigate the pikes. “What the Hell is this?” He utters. _It looks just like something that damned Dracula would pull. If I weren’t so sure that we had killed him ourselves then I would be on edge looking around for him..._

“Are they human remains?” Sypha whispers as she carefully gets off of the wagon and slowly follows him over. She crosses her arms, cold in the chilly night’s breeze.

“Sure looks like it.” Trevor mumbles as he investigates a little further, covering his nose because the rotting corpses were ghastly-smelling. He swallows a bit. “Do you think that Alucard did this?” He asks as he looks back to the now paler Speaker.

“I don’t… I don’t know,” Sypha says softly and looks away from the corpses again, gross and picked-at as they were. They were rotting as any would with time, but having attracted animals as well, torn apart, and partially in pieces from what had been eaten by the forest creatures. “We shouldn’t assume so much, though, we need to go in and talk to him.”

“He knows we’re here already. How wouldn’t he know? And since he does, and he’s not out here with us now, what do you think that means, Sypha?” Trevor raises his brows as he stares her down. It was not hard to put two and two together. If the vampire did not want to face them then it was pretty clear what was going on here. He already knew better, though, that Sypha would shake it off and insist that they find out the proper truth from Alucard before making any further decisions regarding him and the situation at hand.

Sypha shifts uncomfortably at him and the implication, but she shakes her head anyway. “No, stop it. We’ll go in and talk to him. Something must have happened, and we owe him the chance to explain himself and this. Don’t be like that.”

“I’m not being like anything. I’m just stating facts here.” Trevor puts his hands up and turns away from the pikes finally, heading up to the actual entrance first. Sypha follows behind him. They make it up to the top of the stairs and to the tall double doors. Trevor raises both his hands and bangs on them with the sides of his fists. “Alucard! Let us in so we can talk, you damned freak!” He shouts.

Sypha smacks his back. “Trevor!” She screeches, “That’s not helping anything, idiot, stop it!”

Trevor snorts and rolls his eyes. “He’s dealt with worse than name-calling and besides, he deserves it. He’s literally in there ignoring us right now, Sypha.” He continues to bang obnoxiously on the door.

The Speaker huffs and puffs her cheeks, looking around some and letting him continue to harass the poor doors. “Maybe he isn’t home right now…” She offers.

“Bullshit. Where else would the hermit be right now?” Trevor laughs, starting to kick at the door as well. “Damned vampire, you’d better open up or I’ll break the doors!” He threatens.

Sypha shakes her head in disbelief at him and heads back down the stairs. “I’ll see if I can find another door open to get in.”

“It’ll probably be locked, too.” Trevor points out. “He wouldn’t have just blocked the one entrance if it was us. He knows you’re smart enough to check for others.”

She sighs and shrugs. “It’s still best to try. Even so, if I can find another door it’ll be easier for me to get open with my magic instead of damaging the castle further.” She says and heads off and around the castle’s exterior to search.

**━━━━━━━━┛ ✠ ┗━━━━━━━━**

Adrian keeps his head down on the desk he sits at in his father’s old study, eye twitching. “He’s so quick to just always resort to violence.” He mumbles, brushing his hair back out of his face as he finally sits up in his seat. He tilts his head back, staring at the ceiling as he listens to the consistent banging on the doors, as well as the string of curses being spew from the Belmont’s vulgar mouth. “He can never hold his tongue.” He sighs softly.

_Why aren’t I letting them inside, again? They deserve an explanation after what we had been through together. If I really am losing it and becoming my father, then they are the ones who ought to put me down._ Adrian stands and walks around the room in small circles for a while, listening as Sypha goes around the outside of the castle, trying various doors. He already knew she would find none that she could gain easy access to the inside from. He had made sure of it, after all. He knew who he was dealing with here, after all.

Stopping in the doorway of the study, Adrian leans against the frame, covering his eyes. “Who’s to say that if I let them in they wouldn’t accept the truth, and they kill me for nothing?” He utters. He did not want to believe that they would just simply kill him quite so easily, but it was a silent possibility.

He scoffs. “Silly. Sypha knows how to reason. She would at least take more consideration, and would hold the dog off until then.” He nods to himself, but doesn’t move from the doorframe. He looks down at his hands. “I’m not my father. He declared war on all of humanity and swore to destroy it all. I have done no such thing.” He mumbles, working carefully to convince himself. He laughs a moment, amused by his own attempts. “My God, I really am going mad.”

Adrian slowly walks through the hall at last, taking his own sweet time because he still was not entirely sure whether it was in his best interest to let them in or leave them out. How long would it take them to give up and go away?

“If I can’t even convince myself, how would it go for them? I’ve less of a chance having them understand. I hardly understand it myself.” The dhampir whispers as he takes one step at a time, keeping his eyes glued to his feet. He stops at the stairs, looking down into the entrance hall. He places his hand gently on the railing, watching the doors the brute outside were shaking furiously. It was impressive enough that the human could even tussle the heavy things. Of course it was not something that Adrian had been underestimating in him, but it was the little things that caught his attention long enough to amuse him.

He could not decide for himself. Were they friends or acquaintances? If they were friends then he could much easier ascend the stairs and allow them into his barren home. If they were acquaintances he could easier just turn back around and go to bed for the night, putting them far within his past that he was hoping soon to forget entirely. He certainly could not bring himself to war against and destroy humanity, but he could most definitely forsake it. It would be better that way, would it not? To forget all of it, to leave it here and alone, and to never step outside of these corridors again. It would be terribly lonely eventually, yes, he would admit it, but it would be best for himself, for those two, and for the rest of the world around himself. If he got too lonely, well, that was why he had sewn those two dolls for himself in the likeness of the two he had dearly hoped he could stay with and truly know.

_Why is it so different now? I still want to know them, don’t I? Even if they are involved. I could still be a good friend to them. Maybe they would invite me to their wedding. Although I would have to learn to fit a dress to be a bridesmaid since clearly Trevor would never want me near him._ Adrian smiles for a moment, his own fantasies consuming him for the time being, long enough he even forgot that the two were actually there and could no longer hear the banging and shouting at his front door.

He had been dreaming of his friends for over a year now. Of adventures they all could partake in, of sharing meals and of sharing knowledge, of laughter and of joy. Of kisses, of holding each other, of not being a burden to either of them. Of love and cherishment. The warming delight that the dreams brought to Adrian always made his heart flutter. When he awoke after dreaming of the two, he was always in a better mood. The world felt just a little lighter those days, and life was just a little easier to bear.

Occasionally, what planted the doubt that plagued his immortal mind, he had nightmares. Like memories of what Sumi and Taka had done to him, replaced by his Sypha and his Trevor. Those days when he awoke he had to go back outside and check that the bodies on the pikes were in fact not the Speaker and the Belmont. What would it take for them to betray him as well? The thought, however, that those two would betray him, filled him with an even greater despair and self-hatred. He believes they are better, though, so why was he still standing here and promptly disregarding them? They are better. He is better than this, acting like a child and trying to shut his eyes to the two that he has fooled himself into believing that he needs most in the world, unbeknownst to them, of course. They would call him an absolute loon if they found out how he felt, anyway, especially after— _if_ —he told them about what had happened with Sumi and Taka.

“I guess I will have to go into this blind and hope for the best.” Adrian decides, at last making his way down the curving staircase and to the double doors. He lifts the thick wooden board up and places it leaned against the wall, then pushes the right door open. “Hello, Belmont. Good to see you.”

“Bastard.” Trevor grumbles before turning his head to call Sypha back over. Adrian steps back a few feet so that they could both enter the castle, keeping his head down as they do, refusing to meet their gazes.

**━━━━━━━━┛ ✠ ┗━━━━━━━━**

“You haven’t the faintest idea of what a relief it is that you’ve decided to be a good boy.” The seductress whispers in her slave’s ear, arms wrapped around his middle as she pressed up against his backside, casually looking around him as he attempted to work in spite of her presence.

“Of course, it could only be because of the fear you harbor of me and that ring there, but I like to think that you love me _so_ much that you would never, ever think of betraying me and my sisters.” She smiles.

Hector remains silent, continuing with his task and hardly minding her as she pesters him, amusing herself like she always does. This was what usually happened, anyway, and he had unfortunately grown used to her hovering and teasing.

“Am I dear to your heart, then, Hector?” Lenore purrs, pressing her cold lips to his cheek.

“You want to hear yes.” Hector sighs, stepping away from her to go and grab another tool to use on his project. “So yes.”

The vampire pouts, pressing her lips together as she watches him move around the lab that she had a few men put together for him, with Camilla’s consent of course. She soon smiles again, anyway, pleased with herself and turning to leave again. “Leave your door open again tonight. I’ll be around.”

He does not turn to watch her leave, merely returning to his table and continuing to work. It was what he had to do as their slave, but it was also all he could do to keep his mind off of the fact that it was exactly what he had become. He was nothing more than chattel. A lamb in a den of hungry, sadistic lions watching his every move, controlling his every action, licking their lips as they waited for the time to strike. He was worthless. What would Dracula think of him now?


	3. Chapter 3

A long time ago, when Adrian had been just a boy, he had done a very bad thing. He had snuck into his mother’s study, which had been off-limits to him in his youth as it had harbored many things that she had deemed dangerous for children, half-vampire or not.

He had not meant much by it. He had just been curious again of what she did when she disappeared into it for hours at a time, and he had wanted to get a better sense of who she was, so he went in while Lisa was in town. His father, of course, had been busy with something or another and so had not been paying attention to his son’s whereabouts, though Lisa had chewed him out about it later on. Adrian had gone into her study, and was merely attempting to explore and learn more about his mother and her work. He had not meant to knock over the bottle that had been sitting precariously on the desk, and certainly when it had shattered on the floor he had felt a sense of horribleness.

Adrian had done his best to clean up the glass and the liquid, unaware of what it was. He knew it must have been important if it were in his mother’s study, and he had broken it, so she would be very cross with him. That was the logical way of things.

When Lisa returned home that nightAdrian had done his best to prepare himself, but as she came about and ate dinner that night with him, he waited in the fear, the horrible anxiousness. He had done something wrong and she would soon figure it out and he was not ready for the bitterness that would follow it. Once more, it would have been even worse when Dracula found out what he had done, his punishments were evermore severe.

That feeling of dread he had felt as a naive and anxious boy, was very similar to that which he felt now.

The dhampir keeps his eyes to the ground as the two humans let themselves into the castle. Trevor pushes the door slammed shut behind the both of them and then stands beside Sypha, the two watching the still blonde carefully and considering.

“Well?” Sypha says softly. “Aren’t you going to take us to the kitchen for a drink? We can’t very well talk without a drink.”

Trevor liked the way she thought, always. A drink did sound swell right now, especially with the levels of stress the two of them were doing suppressing suspicions and doing their best to wait it out to hear what Alucard had to say for himself. He nods in agreement, watching the other male.

Alucard slowly blinks and nods his head. “Yes, of course. Follow me, then.” He murmurs, turning swiftly on his heels and leading the two deeper into the castle to the closest kitchen so that he could pour them each a glass of whatever was closest. He pours each of the three glasses meticulously, making sure each one was even with the other before placing them at the table and sitting down at the end of the table.

Sypha and Trevor take their seats next to each other. Trevor was already grabbing ahold of his own glass and taking a swig. Sypha holds hers but does not sip it just yet, watching Alucard with what could only be determined as worry.

_ Or is it fear? _ Adrian could not help but to wonder. Was it fear or worry that these two were showering upon him with their silent, darkened gazes? He clears his throat. “So, then… It looks like the two of you are doing well.” He tries.

“We can be nicer to each other later.” Trevor says sternly, jaw set. “Tell us about the bodies that are literally rotting on your porch.”

Sypha did not have the energy to hit him again. She sighs and finally takes a sip from her own glass, nodding. “Yes, please do tell us what happened. We want to hear your story.” She says softly. She wants desperately to give him the benefit of the doubt. Surely he was not a monster. He had not been before, and she still grips onto the hope that he is not now. No monster would put so much at risk to save all of humanity from his own father like he had. Hopefully, anyway.

Alucard exhales and takes a sip from his drink before finally speaking to them. “It was a little more than a year ago. Two humans had come across me while I was out foraging. I believed after a while we had become friends, and they had wanted to learn to slay vampires, for revenge like most others, and I had decided to teach them how.” He starts.

“The two humans on the pikes outside?” Trevor interrupts.

“Trevor! Let the man finish!” Sypha growls, kicking him under the table.

Adrian looks between them for a moment.  _ They seem...more at ease than I would have expected anyone to be.  _ He fixes himself before nodding once more. “Yes, those are the two.” He admits, pushing his hair back out of his face. “I had believed that we were becoming good friends, we had been sharing laughs and meals and bits and pieces about each other. One night, as I laid to sleep they had come into my bedroom in their nightclothes.” He closes his eyes, propping his head up stressedly with his hand. “They seduced me and made love to me.”

“How lov — ”

Sypha smacks Trevor in the back of the head.

Adrian ignores the both of them for the time being, keeping his eyes closed.  _ Sumi and Taka had seemed as at ease with me as the two of them do, as well…  _ “As I was distracted, they tried to kill me. I had no choice but to kill them to save myself.” He explains, tapping his fingers nervously on the table.

“I’m so sorry, Adrian…” Sypha frowns.  _ How could someone be so cruel as to do that? Pretend to be friends with someone for so long, learn from them, train with them, pretend even to love them, only to kill them? They were the monsters. I was right that Alucard wasn’t. _

“And then you stabbed giant spikes through them and stuck them on the porch like victory flags. ‘I survived.’ That right?” Trevor scoffs, scooting before Sypha could hit him again. It was honestly more fun being a douche to Alucard and getting Sypha riled up.

“I put them on the pikes in front as warning signs.” Alucard states.

“Warning signs? For what? They know it’s Dracula’s castle.” The raven-haired male reminds.

The half-vampire sighs. “A warning for all others to stay away even further than it just being Dracula’s castle. I...didn’t want to deal with anyone at the time. I didn’t know how I could trust anyone else after that.” He utters.

“And it’s a year later. You should consider getting rid of them. They’re revolting,” Trevor huffs. “Almost made Sypha puke on me.”

Sypha rolls her eyes. “I understand your reasoning, Alucard… But yes, maybe you should consider doing away with them. I’m not saying to bury them, as I don’t think they deserve the kindness, but they aren’t serving much of a purpose. I mean, has any other people come around to even see your warning signs?” She inquires.

“Well. No.” Alucard mumbles, sitting up again and crossing his arms over each other. “I suppose I will.”

The Speaker smiles softly at him, relaxed easily and hoping to calm him down more as well. “It’s been awfully quiet here over the year, hasn’t it? I would think it’s gotten pretty lonely in this big old castle.” She bemuses.

“Oh, you’ve no idea.” Alucard shakes his head, finally offering the slightest of smiles as he relaxes as well. “So, why have you two come? What is it that I can do for you?” He asks, looking between the both of them again.

Sypha grins at him fearlessly. “Well, we just came to visit our dear friend, silly.”

“And who would that be?” Trevor deadpans, snorting as his foot gets stepped on. “I’m fucking kidding, Sypha.” He looks back to the dhampir. “We kinda felt bad about just leaving you like we did after all that, and then for being gone without contact for that long. We wanted to check in and make sure there was no hard feelings or anything.”

“We wanted to apologize,” Sypha corrects him.

“You wanted to apologize.” Trevor mutters.

“Trevor is a big baby, so he’ll never admit it, but we’ve missed you. We wanted really to apologize and make sure that we haven’t ruined our friendship for forever.” Sypha whispers.

Adrian blinks a couple of times as he watches them. The mood was softer now, gentler. And even while the Belmont was still being an asshole, even he seemed to be more at ease now than he had before their conversation. The calm made him feel almost warmer inside. He smiles slowly, properly this time around. “I see. Of course our friendship has not been deterred. And if you remember it was I who insisted you finish your travels and work on dispelling the numbers of demons that my father had left behind, which I assume you did take care of, yes?” He hums.

“Oh yeah. We took care of loads of them. And some other dumbasses along the way,” Trevor laughs, silently relieved now that the vampire seemed to feel a little better in their company.

“That’s good.” Alucard nods. “It’s getting late. We can continue our catching up in the morning, I think. The two of you could use your rest. Sypha looks ready to pass out on your shoulder, Belmont.”

Sypha offers another smile, sleepier this time.

Adrian stands up and gathers their glasses to take care of them. He places them on the counter to deal with them after seeing them to bed. “Am I taking you to your own rooms or will you be sharing the one?” He finally asks. Upon Sypha resting her head on Trevor and putting up a singular digit, he nods and turns to head upstairs to quickly make sure one was actually prepared for them.  _ They are involved with each other. I had known as much would happen. It doesn’t seem like they are married, however...unless they are in secret, but I would hope not. You should certainly know someone for much longer than that before you bind your life to them for the rest of it. _

The dhampir returns after a few minutes to retrieve them. “There’s a room ready on the second floor for you both. There is a bathroom attached to it, and a library across the hall for your liking, Sypha. I can take you to it.” He says.

The Speaker laughs softly and stands up, holding onto her lover’s arm. “Thanks for thinking of me.” She giggles and walks with Trevor, following Alucard up the stairs and to the bedroom that had been prepared just for them. “Good night,” she calls after him.

“Good night.” Alucard replies, heading back down the hall and disappearing into the darkness as he leaves them to settle for the night.

Making his way back to his own chambers, the blonde fidgets. “That was unexpected,” he mumbles. “Well, not all of it. I had expected them to be partners.” He closes the door behind himself, leaning up against it and slowly sliding down to the floor.  _ What exactly hadn’t I expected in all of it? _

Adrian rubs his cheek, glancing around his bedroom. “What to do now…” He rests his arms upon his knees. “I suppose we’ll talk more tomorrow. Catch up. There isn’t much that I can say for myself. They’ll carry most of the conversation, anyway. They’ve probably seen all sorts on their travels this past year. All I’ve done is manage to clean a few rooms and grown closer to internal madness.” He muses, brushing his hair back. He pushes himself up off of the floor and takes his boots off, then his coat, gloves, belt, and his pants. He sits down on the edge of the large, purely white-sheeted bed.

“They still want to be friends. That’s more than I could have ever asked for.” He whispers, lifting the blankets and laying down beneath them, staring up at the pallid ceiling in a lonesome blankness. “I shouldn’t ask for more. I shouldn’t want more. This is enough for anyone, right?”

“Who am I talking to aloud like this?” Adrian laughs softly.

The non-silence was nearly overwhelming for him. He could hear the two humans mumbling to each other as he could only guess they laid in each other’s arms. He could hear their heartbeats, synchronizing with each other. Their breaths. Their bond, nearly. He should have been thankful enough for what they were already offering him after all that he had done and beyond, but he could not help but still envy them and what they held for each other. They had something that he had never had before. It was something he so greatly sought after, and desperately wished he could have for them. Not one more than the other, but from the both of them. Their bond was already so warm, so fulfilling. If it could be expanded to include him, he had no doubt that the wonders to follow would be enough for a thousand lifetimes.

Wiping the stray tear from his cheek, he rolls onto his side and watches the wall now instead. It was not like he would be getting any sleep tonight, not with the two people inside of his home. Whether they were trustworthy or not, he simply could not will himself to fall asleep with the sounds of others around him plaguing his senses. He was on high alert. He hated him. They would never do such a thing to him.

His nightmares thought otherwise, however, and they haunted him even in consciousness. In his slumber. His daydreaming. His thoughts. Always.


	4. Chapter 4

“You know you’re heavy, right?” Sypha groans tiredly, having been so rudely awoken by her large lover. “Get off of me, you beast.”

Trevor yawns, laying on top of her. “You make a nice bed. Why should I?” He jokes, pressing his lips to hers for a moment before finally sitting up and climbing out of the bed. He stretches and pulls on his pants.

Sypha simply smiles after him and sits up as well. “I’m sure that I do, but we should get on with the day now. Do you think Alucard is awake yet?” She asks him as she moves to get dressed as well.

“Probably. It doesn’t seem like a very vampirey thing to sleep in.” The male shrugs as he finishes dressing himself.

“Huh. I guess not.” She snickers, following him out of the room once the both of them were ready. This time around she was actually able to take her time, looking around the halls and gazing at the paintings and ornaments. Every once in a while they came upon some sort of wreckage from their battle with the vampires. “It doesn’t seem like he’s gotten much done with repairing the castle since we’ve been gone.”

“Do you blame him after dealing with a shit-show like that and then the incident with the two on the porch?” Trevor scoffs.

“No, of course I don’t blame him for it. But maybe while as long as we are here we could offer him a hand in at least getting most of it back up to glory. It would be even more depressing to me to stay in such a big, lonely place if it were also partially in shambles.” Sypha responds, shaking her head as they make it down the halls and down the stairs, making their way to the kitchen they had been taken to the night before.

As they get into the room they find breakfast waiting on the table, covered to preserve the warmth, as well as a pitcher of water and two empty cups awaiting them. Sypha groans in delight. “Oh this smells fantastic. I’m starving!” She shoves Trevor out of the way and plops down in front of one of the plates, filling a glass and downing it before uncovering her plate and digging into the food that Alucard had so graciously made for them.

Trevor glances around before joining her. “I guess he already ate.”

She nods her head while shoveling food into her mouth, pleased with the flavors. “Probably so--oh, this is so  _ good _ \--where do you think he went off to?” She asks as she continues eating, being a little greedy at the moment but she could not care any less.

“Who knows? Maybe he went out for more food. He probably doesn’t have as much stashed. We’re unexpected visitors, remember?” The Belmont offers, eating his food much slower than his partner.

“Oh goodness, that’s right. We should head into the town sometime today and get some more supplies. I don’t want to ask too much of him.” Sypha mentions, setting her fork down long enough to refill her water glass. “We could get some non-perishables, as well as some of the things I’ve been needing. I’m sure there’s something you could use, too.”

Trevor nods his head lightly. “Yeah, I could use a couple of things, probably. I’ll come up with something.”

“And Adrian probably needs stuff, whether he’ll admit it or not at first,” she assumes, drinking from her second glass as well now. They had been running low of fresh water on their trip here, so it had to be rationed out. She was glad to relax on that now and drink her fill.

Trevor shrugs his shoulders and continues eating. When he finishes he rises and gathers their dishes, shockingly being useful and standing at the sink to wash them all instead of having Sypha do them. It was not something very men would do in this day and age.

She smiles softly as she turns around, sitting with her legs straddling the back of her chair as she watches him do the chore. “Do you think he’s okay?” She wonders aloud.

“Obviously he’s not okay, Sypha. You did see him yesterday, right?” He chuckles.

She puffs her cheeks. “I did.” She rubs her cheek.

After a few minutes of a mutual silence, the side door that leads from the outside and straight into the kitchen opens and Alucard steps inside with a couple of baskets full of food he had foraged from outside. He looks to them as he pulls the door shut. “Good morning.” He steps into the kitchen and begins to put away the food he had gathered for them all to share.

Sypha beams happily, sitting correctly in her chair now. “Good morning to you, too! Thank you for the food; it was absolutely delicious.” She chimes.

“I’m glad that you liked it.” Alucard nods, continuing to focus on putting the food away.

Trevor dries his hands off. “We were talking about going into town today to get some supplies. We thought we would ask you to come with us, if there isn’t anything else that you needed to do today.”

“I don’t think that there is, but I have no reason really to head into town. There isn’t anything that I require.” Alucard responds.

The Speaker hums. “Are you sure? Well, then, why not just come with us for the fun of it? We could use that time to be catching up and maybe you could help me with finding the few things that I need.” She suggests.

“Alright.” The dhampir finally agrees, finished and placing the baskets back inside of the cabinet beside the oven.

“Excellent! I think, then, that Trevor and I should wash up first, and then we will be ready to head out.” Sypha hums, standing up finally.

“I can show you how the faucet works in the bathroom attached to your room.” Alucard says and then leads the smiling Speaker back upstairs to show her how to use their bathroom to the fullest extent.

Trevor watches them go. He sighs and moves to look out the window a moment before following them up the stairs.

**━━━━━━━━┛ ✠ ┗━━━━━━━━**

The neighboring town is a big one, the market aligned in the dirt streets crowded with all sorts of people, bustling about in their own little lives. Trevor walks behind Sypha and Alucard, keeping his arms crossed as he looks around, letting Sypha handle the conversation for now since she had less of a chance of fucking it up and offending the “fragile” dhampir.

“So what is it that you needed again?” Alucard asks as they walk together.

“Oh, you know, just a bit of this and that to work on a few spells I’ve been practicing. Here, I wrote out a list of everything that I don’t have for them so far.” Sypha says, pulling the scrap of paper from her pocket and handing it over to the blonde.

He looks the list over carefully. “I have a few of these already in the castle. There’s no need in getting extra of them. These other ones we should be able to find at any of the medicinal shops.” He replies, handing it back over to her. “We could head over now, if you’d like.”

“Alright. Trevor?” Sypha glances back over her shoulder at the Belmont.

Trevor rolls his shoulders back. “You two go on ahead. I’m going to take care of my business. I’ll meet you two around later in the day.” He says, turning and heading off by himself.

Alucard watches the human male leave them. He looks back to the Speaker. “He’s still as grumpy as he had been.”

Sypha laughs at this. “Of course. He’s Trevor. He hasn’t changed that much. You’d be surprised at the bits of him that have gotten better in the time so far, though. He’s pretty incredible. He’ll never admit that he’s changed, as stubborn as he is,” she smiles, walking with him and allowing him to take the lead as they go to the closest medicinal shop to get the supplies that she needed.

“I’ll believe it.” Alucard muses and takes her to the shop, sticking around outside as she heads in to get what she needs.

While the woman shops, Adrian paces around slowly in the dirt path in front of it, which was finally clearing out, most people headed along home to start preparing lunch for their families. He sighs softly and pushes his hands into his coat pockets.  _ It’s been a long while since I’ve come out here _ , he muses to himself, looking around before turning his gaze up to the bright blue sky. He watches a particularly fluffy cloud slowly drifting by.  _ I’m not entirely sure how to navigate myself around the two of them yet. I find myself still placing up barriers around myself and blocking them out. I don’t mean to. Not with them. _ He shakes his head and looks down again, watching a few human children run around with a ball, chasing each other to get it back in the silly game that they were playing.

He turns his head, watching as a man crashes into a woman, knocking the basket of produce from her hands, the vegetables and fruits spilling out into the street. The man grimaces and shoves the woman, knocking her to the ground. “Damned wench, watch where you’re going.” He spits and keeps going.

The woman keeps her head down and mutters something detestable before moving to crawl and salvage what she could of the produce that hadn’t been stepped on and squashed yet by onlookers.

Adrian looks away. He leans against the wall of the shop and taps his foot.  _ I remember again why I despise coming into town. _

At least soon enough Sypha returns with her supplies. She beams at Alucard as she steps out to him. “Thank you for waiting on me. I’ve got these, so now maybe we should go check out some food to stock up since we’re here. Some non-perishable types would do well with the three of us eating. It’ll be easier than having to go out foraging every single day.” She says.

Alucard dips his head. “Certainly. Let’s go.”

Grinning, the woman happily begins to wander around the market with the dhampir, on the search of good food that they could bring back with them. She looks for things that Trevor would like, too, of course.

“So, what have the two of you been up to over the year in your travels, other than killing demons?” Alucard asks, Sypha guessing he was making an attempt to open up more.

Thrilled by the question, she hums. “Oh, all kinds of things. We visited the other Speakers at one point. My grandfather wasn’t really pleased that I’ve begun a more intimate partnership with Trevor, but he wasn’t exactly surprised.” She muses. “We’ve been slowly working on clearing and rebuilding the Belmont name, practicing my magic, oh, and we went to a lunar festival!”

“I have only ever heard of them. How was it?” Alucard inquires.

“It was so much fun, Alucard, I’m sure you would have loved it. Everything was very unique and the costumes of the ones performing were unlike anything I had ever seen.” Sypha laughs, happily remembering the evening she had spent with Trevor under the moonlight. It had been truly lovely, but those bits she was certain Alucard would not care too much to hear about.

He nods. “I’m glad that you’ve been able to enjoy yourselves.”

Sypha smiles again. “And you? I know you haven’t left the castle much, but what have you been up to?” She asks him.

Alucard glances around as they stop to sit on a bench near the center of town. “I have begun reading again.” He says, watching people pass them by. “Mostly the books in my mother’s old study and her detailed journals about her time as a doctor and a scientist. She left behind a lot of remarkable evidence. I would hope one day to share them with the world, should they prove deserving of it.” He muses.

“And how could they do that?” She tilts her head.

He takes a moment before answering. “Sypha, you went and bought a few common medicinal herbs, easily passable to be saying that you were curing someone ill. Yet if they had known you were buying them for your spells, then they would be out after you shouting witch, and they would seek to burn you at the stake as they did my mother.” He reminds her.

“That’s true…” She says softly.

“Very little medicinal knowledge exists in the minds of the people here. Dabbling further in it is considered witchcraft, tampering with life and death, and to them, it is clear signs of dealing with the Devil. It is why the killed my mother. She was only a doctor, who wanted nothing more than to share knowledge, heal those in need, and make the world a better place.” Alucard utters. “Yet humanity killed her. They were not ready yet for her knowledge. And they are not ready now, either, for much of anything. It will be a long time until then.”

Sypha slowly nods her head. “I see.” She murmurs. “Well, maybe one day that day will come to be, and you could share it all with them. Use her name, remind the world of what they had done and who she truly was.”

“And make her some sort of martyr?” Alucard snorts. “I’m already a vampire Jesus, Sypha.”

“That you are.” Trevor says as he walks up to them. He did not exactly look like he had bought anything. But who knows?

The Speaker stands up. “There you are! I was wondering what was taking you two so long. We were just looking into food to take back to the castle. Now that you’re here you can help us pick out a few more things. Maybe we’ll even get some proper beer to bring, too.” She offers.

Trevor was listening. “That sounds like a fantastic idea, and I’m in. What are we waiting for? Let’s go,” he says quickly, already turning to lead the other two back into the market streets to search for food — well, he was after the best ale in town, obviously.

Sypha laughs and shrugs, motioning for Alucard to follow them as she hurries to follow after the excited ravenette.

Adrian rises to his feet and follows after the both of them, watching as the woman catches up and clings to Trevor’s arm, grinning up at him and teasing him. Adrian smiles a little.  _ They fit each other. They work. I think that my mother and father fit well together, as well. _ He shuffles along, not wanting to intrude on them.

Sighing softly, he hurries along as well.  _ There would never be much room for me there. I would ruin it, wouldn’t I? I don’t fit there. I probably don’t fit anywhere. I’ve just got to learn to accept it. _

“Hurry up, slow-poke!” Sypha calls back over her shoulder, laughing joyously as she usually does.

Alucard chuckles. “I’m coming.” He promises.

He glances down at his hands.  _ Still, they make it really hard to just accept it as it is. _


	5. Chapter 5

Trevor sighs heavily as he sweeps the broken glass and bottles up in the main hall, Sypha nearby fixing the shelf’s boards. He grumbles. “Why do we have to do this, again?” He complains.

“Because the damages are partially our fault and it’s the right thing to do to help a friend out,” Sypha reminds him, content as she finishes with the shelf and makes sure the unbroken and unopened bottles of wine are well situated upon it. She stands up and dusts her hands off on her pants.

“Then why did you get to fix the shelf? Why am I sweeping?” He huffs.

“Because you look funny hunched over, holding a little broom,” the Speaker giggles.

Trevor glares at her and turns away again, finishing with that and dumping the glass pieces into the bin so he could dispose of them properly later.  _ It’s only been a few days. She thinks we have gotten really close to Alucard fully opening up to us, but I don’t think so. He’s still guarding himself carefully.  _ He leans the broom up against the wall and carries the bin with him outside to leave by the doors, then heads to the kitchen to pour himself a drink.

Sypha follows him in, grabbing a handful of fresh berries from the bowl at the center of the table and munching on them as she sits down. “If we keep this up all the repairs might be finished by the end of the month,” she points out.

“Probably.” He agrees, sitting down at the table across from her and taking long swigs at a time from his cup of ale, content that Sypha had allowed him to purchase a whole keg of the stuff from town. He had to ration it, though, since she was also mean and would not let him go back for another one until it was time to get more food.

They both look over as Alucard enters the room, going to the sink and washing the dirt from his pale hands. “The main hall is done?” He asks them.

The Belmont nods his head. “As done as it will ever be. I’ll take care of the glass in a bit.”

Alucard shrugs. “I’ll deal with it. You’ve done enough for today.” He moves to sit down at the table with them.

“You know, I was thinking,” Sypha starts, “That we could start a garden of crops somewhere by the castle here. I’m sure that the soil around is fertile this close to the river there especially. It would be easier to be growing your own vegetables so you won’t always have to go into town for the lot of them.”

“That isn’t a bad idea.” Alucard admits. “My mother used to have a garden, though she grew medicinal plants, not food.”

Sypha smiles. “It won’t be too difficult. Actually, I was meaning to go into town today to check on something. I could go ahead and pick up some seeds and gardening supplies while I’m there. We could get started on it this afternoon.” She chimes excitedly. Of course Sypha would be the one to get excited about plants of all things.

Nodding, Alucard grabs himself a handful of the berries. “Sure,” he agrees.

“Excellent.” She grins and gets up, popping the rest of her own berries into her mouth. “I’ll be off now. You boys be good while I’m gone and I’ll think about bringing back surprises for you two.”

Trevor almost chokes. “More beer?”

She rolls her eyes, already walking out. “We’ll see, you alcoholic.”

“Not quite, but alright. I’ll take it.” Trevor chuckles and finishes off his current cup. He gets up and washes it out, setting it aside to dry. He glances back to the dhampir. “So, should we go work on another room together or something while she’s out?”

Alucard gets back up. “We can go work on cleaning the yard about and finding a place for Sypha’s garden?” He suggests.

“Fine by me.” The ravenette agrees and moves to follow Alucard outside using the kitchen’s side-door. He looks around. “We’ve got a lot of weed-pulling to do, hooray.” He moves to get started. “I’ve no clue where would be a good spot for a garden.”

The half-vampire looks around the area. “Probably in that clearing right over there. I’ll mark it somehow.” He moves to gather a few large rocks to place around the area in a box to mark where it would be. He steps inside of it after and starts de-weeding that area first.

Trevor starts on the area around the box he made. “So, are you actually okay with us being around so much or are we getting on your last nerves?” He finally asks a bit into them actually working.

“Of course not. I don’t mind either of you.” Alucard responds, looking back at him some.

“Just making sure.” Trevor shrugs lightly. “Sometimes it seems like we’re being bothers.”

“Well, you’re not.” Alucard insists, kneeling down on the ground while he clears the area for the garden.

The Belmont hums and continues moving about doing his own work. “That’s good.” He remains in the awkward silence with the other male for a while longer. “So, uh, despite the whole murder and gruesome scary betrayal thing, how was the threesome?” He asks randomly.

Alucard blinks and stares over at him. “Pardon?”

“The threesome. You said the two of them had seduced you. They came to your room in the middle of the night and seduced you, obviously you had sex with them if you were distracted enough that they could catch you surprise like that.” Trevor states. “So how was it? Were you actually into it?”

The dhampir stares a moment longer before continuing to pull the weeds out of the ground, tossing them outside of the box he had made out of the rocks. “I suppose I was. It was...good. I didn’t see anything wrong with it.”

“Even with two other people?” Trevor muses.

“Like I said, I didn’t see anything wrong with it. Relationships like that do exist, after all.” Alucard sighs.

“I guess so.” Trevor hums. “Were you like a virgin or something before that, then?”

“Of course not.” Alucard scoffs.

“Sure, buddy. I believe you.” Trevor snickers, shaking his head and grinning at the blonde’s backside.

“I was not. I’ve had my fair share of fucks, mind you.” Alucard rolls his eyes. “Not as much as you, likely, considering you’re likely a whore and have left a string of broken hearts in your wake, but trust me, I was no virgin.”

Trevor just laughs at this and shrugs his shoulders. “Alright.”

“So, what about you and Sypha?” Alucard asks after a few more silent minutes.

“Us?” Trevor stretches, standing back up properly. “We started sleeping together a couple weeks after we left here.”

Alucard nods again. “I see.” He murmurs. “And the two of you, is it just the sex? Or are you engaged?”

“Engaged to be married? No.” Trevor chuckles. “Could you see me being married? That’s funny. No, we’re just, uh, what the kids today are calling it, dating. Like courting but not marriage-type stuff just yet. If I asked her to marry me I’m fairly certain her grandfather would hire a hitman to put my head up on a plaque.”

“Do you want to marry her one day?” Alucard asks him.

Trevor is quiet for a bit. “Maybe one day. There’s a lot that has to be dealt with before that day could ever come, and just a lot beforehand that would prevent it.” He sighs. “I would like to, don’t get me wrong. I’m just not entirely on board yet with the having a family thing.”

“You could rebuild your family name?” Alucard suggests, finished with the inside of the box and so stepping out to help him with the surrounding areas.

“Yeah, I know.” The other mumbles. “I just need a little more time before I decide on stuff like that.”

Adrian keeps quiet as they continue working. He walks a few feet away from the human to clear out some of the debris that had been left behind, carrying it to the bin that was waiting out front full of the glass shards from the main hall. He dumps the debris into the bin and then carries it out to dispose of it. He looks around a little. 

It was pretty outside today, to say the least. There was hardly a cloud in sight, and it seemed all of the birds had decided to sing. Maybe it was some sort of musical contest going on in the animal world that they had no idea about.

Amused, he deals with the garbage and then returns the bin back to the inside of the castle.  _ That’s right.  _ He moves to wash his hands again, anything to help keep him occupied for just a little bit longer before he has to return outside with Trevor.  _ One day they will get married and they will be starting a new family for themselves. There won’t be room for me then. I’ll be left here alone without a family of my own. That’s not even a possibility for myself. It’s wishful thinking that I could hope they would want me around them for much longer as it is. _

He dries his hands off on the towel hanging on the wall above the sink, then heads back out through the side-door to see about Trevor again.  _ Maybe if I just keep quieter and more to myself then I can go mostly unnoticed. I could stick around for longer. For as long as I can possibly fit without burdening either of them.  _ He walks back over to the human.

“There you are. I’m almost done here.” The larger male says. “We could start pulling up the grass in the box and loosening up the soil now, I think. It would make Sypha a lot happier coming back to seeing that bit already done.”

“Of course.” Alucard agrees, moving to step back over the rocks to just use his hands. Vampiric strength perks, of course.

Trevor smiles and joins him, seeming more relaxed today. He was being less of an ass, so that meant so far he was having a better day. Adrian was glad to see it, kneeling down and dirtying his hands again.  _ How much longer will I possibly fit? One wrong move and I could ruin the whole space. Have I already become a burden by being cause of burden for them? What more will it take?  _ Busy worrying in his own head, he hardly paid much attention to Trevor working around him.

The Belmont watches the distracted male carefully. He remains silent for a while, giving the blonde the time to try and figure things out for himself before he decides to intervene and snap him out of his likely self-deprecating thoughts. “What’s got you so freaked out, vamp?” He teases.

Alucard blinks and faces him again. “What do you mean? I’m not freaked out.”

“Obviously you are.” He shakes his head, tsking in disapproval. “You’re thinking something stupid, aren’t you? Well, unload. It’s just me here. I won’t tell Sypha anything. Use this time to just unwind a little. You’ve been too uptight the last few days. You aren’t giving yourself room to breathe at all, you know.”

The dhampir sighs, tossing the clumps of grass outside of the rock box. “How good of friends do the both of you hope to make out of the three of us?” He asks.

“How good?” Trevor blinks. “Well, pretty good? I mean, Sypha is hoping we can all be close. After what we have been through and all, and what we know of each other already. We enjoy your company most of the time, anyway.”

“And when is it that you do not enjoy my company?” Alucard mumbles.

The hunter waits a bit, taking a little time to consider that question. “Whenever you’re thinking of yourself as a burden. When you’re trying to push us away because you think it is easier, and when you think that we prefer you quieter.” He replies. “You don’t have to shut down. It’s okay to complain and to tell the truth. You don’t have to lie for our sake. We can take it. We aren’t weak like you seem to be thinking that we are.”

“I don’t think that you’re weak,” the blonde insists.

“Sure you don’t.” Trevor chuckles.

Alucard shakes his head, tossing out more clumps of grass as they were to clear it all from where their garden would be. “And what about you? Do you wish to remain close friends with me? A vampire, your sworn enemy as a Belmont member?” He inquires.

“Half-vampire.” Trevor utters, for the first time admitting that to him aloud. He knew by now that Alucard was not a true monster like all those others were. “And yeah, I guess so. You’re not so bad.”

The dhampir laughs a bit, smiling genuinely. “You’re not so bad, either. Just a little on the rough side.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” The other muses.  _ There. He’s smiling again. Now Sypha can’t keep saying I’m a total asshole. _

As they finish up with the clearing out of the area, they head in together to properly wash up and joke around with each other over one thing or another. They go into one of the larger libraries to begin gathering the books and reshelving them, arranging the not broken furniture properly around the room.

The shelves were tall, the very tops having to be reached by a ladder with wheels attached to it. Alucard, however, took care of the books that needed to be put at the top, using his vampiric floating abilities. Trevor was just fine with that, leaving most of the books to him and working on the furniture and clearing out of the debris and the remnants of their previous battle. He glances at some of the paintings on the walls. “Who painted all of these?” He asks.

“My father painted most of them, except for the ones of himself or including himself. Those were painted by an old friend of his, Valentine I believe.” Alucard explains.

“A vampire, too, I’m guessing.” Trevor grunts, carrying the heavy as Hell chair out of the room since it was too broken to be kept around. He returns after dropping it in the hallway.

“Yes, a vampire lord out somewhere. I’m not entirely sure where. I never paid much attention. They had a falling out at some point over something. He has not come around since then.” The dhampir tells him, landing back on his feet as he finishes with all of the books in the library. They were organized better now, as well, and he was content with this system. He was sure Sypha would appreciate it, too. “He did not seem as bad as the other vampires, at least what I saw of him when I was a child. He did not show up to join my father’s army to destroy humanity, after all.”

Trevor nods, leaning against the wall by the door. “Maybe he was still just pissed off at Dracula. Doesn’t mean he’s some unique vampire or anything. I’d probably still kill him if I came across him some day.”

“There’s hardly a thing you wouldn’t kill if you came across it some day,” Alucard muses.

“This is true.” He chuckles.

Alucard turns his head all of a sudden, moments before a black blur came crashing through the window, shattering it to Trevor’s dismay. It crashes into the grand amongst the glass, twitching. A raven, red, beady eyes staring around wildly as it twitched. It stands up after a moment and turns to Alucard. “Young prince, it is time at last that you must take your father’s throne for yourself. There is not yet time to procrastinate. War is coming, and it is coming fast. You must seize power and gather your followers and your men in order to defend both humanity and vampirekind from the foe.”

The dhampir narrows his eyes. “And what foe am I facing?”

The creature twitches again. “The Lady Carmilla and her wicked sisters. You have hardly the time to wait much longer, young prince. She will be making her move soon.”

“Who sent you, demon?” Alucard says, stepping up to the dark omen as it falls onto its back again, twitching a few more times. It could not answer, as it goes still at last, dead on the floor.

Trevor just silently stares over, having not moved from his place against the wall. “Tell me you know what the Hell that was.”

“I’ve hardly a clue.” Alucard sighs as he picks the dead fowl up in his bare hand, thinking it over. “Although, if what it said was true then we all need to be preparing ourselves for another war.”

“Oh goodie.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good day, everyone who's still around to read this! Or if you're new! It's been a rough and quiet couple of weeks, I know, but I'm finally back up with your update, and the announcement that I will start posting updates twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So, enjoy Chapter 6!

“So, a raven crashed through the window, spoke to you and told you there was a war advancing, and then died on the floor before you could find out who sent it. I’m hearing this correctly, yes?” Sypha asks with a sigh, crossing her arms as she looks between both the males sitting at the kitchen table while she stands near it.

“Yes, exactly.” Trevor nods.

The Speaker squints at them both. “I should believe you but I don’t know about that. Are you sure you’re not both drunk off of your arses or pulling my leg? We just got out of a war.”

“If we are speaking technically here,” Alucard starts, “The war never actually ended.”

She sighs. “It just changed goals and leaders.”

The dhampir shrugs. “So it seems.” He agrees.

They all fall back into a mutual silence and think for a while, tense and wary. Finally Sypha speaks up again. “So, what’s the plan, then?” She asks.

“That’s where we have no idea where to go from,” the Belmont grumbles, moving to get himself some beer since he had clearly earned it after today. “It’s weird enough that we had to have such big news like that delivered by a bird.”

“Well, why don’t you take what the bird said and do it?” She says, looking back to the dhampir. “Take your father’s throne and start gathering your own group of allies, preferably allies of us as well, of course. If you can form a stronger, better empire than your father, and you can dispel Carmilla and her forces, then it works out for everyone, doesn’t it?” She did not see a reason why Alucard should not just be the King of Vampires. He was the perfect candidate in their eyes, actually. Someone that they knew and could trust not to follow in Dracula’s bloody footsteps.

The blonde male purses his lips. “No. I would never do such a ridiculous thing.”

“Why not?” The woman sighs.

“King of Vampires, really? I will not be doing anything in the likes of my father.” Alucard grimaces at the thought of it. “That’s sickening, Sypha.”

Trevor butts in. “We both know that you’re not your father, though, Alucard. You’re nothing like him. You’re sensible and logical, you’re more fit to rule and lead than he ever was, that’s obvious.”

“And how exactly is it obvious?” Alucard hisses, taken a bit aback now. “How can you trust me so easily knowing what I did now to the two hunters you stumbled upon at my front door? Oh, you know, the bloody corpses on the pikes? The ones the two of you really quite too easily forgave and put to rest, nearly ushering me into your arms to comfort me like a sad, pitiful, kicked puppy who needed nothing but consoling and unconditional forgiveness?”

“Calm the fuck down.” Trevor warns, setting the empty cup down that he had not filled yet.

“Calm the fuck down? Are you kidding me?” Alucard slams his hands down harshly on the table. “The two of you have no valid reason to forgive me for anything I have done, nor do you have one to trust me with anything. Why should you? Tell me, honestly, why should you?”

Sypha opens her mouth to say something, but she is cut off when the blonde continues.

“I joined your side, yes, when our common enemy was Dracula. We got rid of him and our agreement was done with. I could be plotting my own demise for mankind, my own revenge.” Alucard growls. “I could be what my father never could be, in all of the worst ways imaginable. Now tell me why you would want _me_ to step up and take his throne?” The dhampir was fuming, standing now himself as he gripped the back of the chair that he had been sitting in, nearly breaking it as he did so. He was enraged, but unbeknownst to them, it was not because of them, or towards them—even though, yes, he was taking it out on them now—but he was infuriated by himself. He could not yet believe that anyone would ever actually trust him, or even like him in the least. After all, he was nothing but a monster, and time and time again he was proving himself right in that sense. Who was he kidding by pretending? If he could not even convince himself, what did it matter trying to persuade others? He did not fit here, and he did not fit anywhere.

Instead of the chair the dhampir was holding breaking, the chair beside it, Trevor’s, was thrown back as the human male stood up abruptly, pissed off now as well. He did not even look at the dhampir or his companion as he made his way across the room, slamming the side-door open that led straight outside, and leaving. The door clanged shut behind him, the hinges wheezing.

It falls quiet within the kitchen. Alucard slowly releases the top of his chair from his iron grip and slowly moves to pick the other one up and put it back in its place at the table. He runs a hand through his hair, stressed as he pulls it lightly before releasing it. Both hands drop back to his sides. He looks to Sypha again. “I’m sorry,” he murmurs, “I hadn’t quite meant it to be like that. I spoke harshly.”

Sypha continues to stare at him. She shakes her head and turns to walk out as well, going further into the palace however so she could return to her given room while here. “If you truly believe it is that way, then I guess you must be right. We will be out of your hair by morning.” She assures him in a heavily guiltifying voice, disappearing from the doorway after.

The dhampir remains lingering in the kitchen for a long while, picking up after the lot of them as he thinks to himself about what he had just done. “Idiot.” He utters.

With another tug at the golden tresses on his own head, Adrian makes his way out of the kitchen and through the main halls. _I shouldn’t have said a thing. I was too upset at myself and it offended them. Half of what I said was just made-up, anyway. I would never do what my father did, obviously. I just..it would feel too similar if I took up his throne just like that._ He groans softly as he starts making his way down into the Belmont hold, letting his pale hand trail limply along the dusty railing. He would have to clean it later. It was inexcusable the state the place was in. He had sworn to defend it and uphold it. _Ugh. Why couldn’t I have just said_ that _out loud? It would have made things go so much smoother than this._

As he paces around the main floor of the hold, walking between shelves slowly and checking that at least everything was still in place, he drops his head down into his open palm. He stops in the center of the large room, taking a slow, hefty breath of disgust. _I’ve got to learn how to properly convey myself to others._ He continues walking again and steps up to a table, taking a cloth off of a shelf and wiping the dust off of it.

“Not exactly to just all others, that’s the issue.” Adrian mumbles aloud with a light shake of his head. “To _them_. They are special to me. Important. And yet now they probably think I don’t care. There’s not a lick of sense in me at times, I swear.”

Once the table was clean enough, he went along to begin wiping the dust from the bookshelves. He was only half-heartedly cleaning at the moment, planning to come back at a later time and perform a deep cleansing of everything within the hold to restore its true “beauty” if the hold of a family of monster hunters could be considered anything like that, but he needed the distraction for the moment. It helped him to calm himself, and to think properly.

 _I should be lucky that anyone does trust me after what I’ve done, and just by the fact of what I_ am. _Not many would be willing to do so. They mustn’t have come to that so easily, either. I can only assume the agonizing internal battles it took from each of them to make up their own minds._ Adrian tsks, putting the dirty cloth down now and running his fingertips along the old spines of the leather books on the shelf he stood before. “Slaying the Basilisk, Volume One,” he muses as he looks them other. “Only the Belmonts could write five volumes about killing a singular type of beast.” He finally steps away and wanders over to sit down on one of the old chairs against the wall. He crosses his legs and arms alike, staring out blankly into the rest of the room as he continues to think.

**━━━━━━━━┛ ✠ ┗━━━━━━━━**

The last time he had been this mad, Trevor had gotten rid of the cause. In a very bloody, very dark manner. This time, however, he was throwing himself into the first tavern that he came across in the neighboring town. He sat himself right down at the empty table furthest from a window, telling the barmaid passing by to bring a beer and a new one every time his current one was emptied until he told her to stop.

“Are you sure you can pay going like that?” The woman retorted, throwing a hand onto her hip.

Trevor lifts his head and stares up at her, frustrated enough as it was. He did not need this cheap whore with cotton shoved down her blouse to be accusing him of being a bum right now. He slowly manages to unclench her jaw. “Yes, I can afford my drinks.” He grunts.

Not entirely believing him, she nonetheless turns on her feet and goes back to get him his first mug, mumbling something to herself about wanting to keep her job and not dealing with penniless grouches like him messing it up for her.

Shaking his head, Trevor looks down at his hands as he just places them on top of the table. _Why am I so angry, anyway? It’s not like he was saying anything about me exactly, other than basically that I shouldn’t trust him. Which, is entirely ridiculous, especially coming from him._ He drums his fingers along the dark tabletop, trying to make up his mind exactly with what he wanted to do. _I can’t stay out for too long or else Sypha will just get mad at me. I’ll go back in an hour or two._

He sighs and slowly slumps back further into his seat, grabbing his mug when the barmaid begrudgingly returns with it. He takes a long drink, then sets it down and watches it for lack of anything better to do here. It was too quiet, not the atmosphere he liked in a tavern at all, but he supposed it was at the very least better than having his face slammed into the cold, hard floor and a foot to his testicles. He shudders at the memory.

 _Sypha will probably have said that we’ll be leaving. That’s how she would process it._ Trevor takes another sip, going slow. He would only have a couple. That would make her feel a little better when he returned. _But she’ll have said that we’ll be leaving. She will give him tonight to think about what he’s done, like a punished child, so that in the morning he will come to us, apologize, beg for our forgiveness, and ask us to stay. That’s exactly what she is expecting to happen, and honestly, it’s what will happen. She’s pretty damned good with shit like that._ He shakes his head amusedly, tapping his fingers on the mug now as he glances around the room some more. There was only a few other people in the tavern with him, and they were quietly chatting amongst each other while having a few rounds and a good meal together. He faces forward again, taking another drink.

He stayed only barely the hour that he had promised himself, having three mugs and a small meal while he was there. As he pays, the barmaid takes note of the minor wealth he carried, and her attitude instantaneously changes as she flirtatiously leans up against the table, scooping up the coins in her hands, her dress hiked up her leg somewhat. “Thank you for choosing us. I would hope you will come back sometime, handsome.” She smiles too widely, batting her lashes one too many times.

Trevor simply stands and fixes his cloak, giving her merely a glance as he turns. “Oh, go fuck yourself.” He mumbles to her bewilderment and outrage, and he leaves the tavern, slowly making his way back through the dark along the dirt path, heading back to the castle by going though the thicket nearby. The night was nice. The cool breeze rustles the leaves about, and the overgrown dark locks of hair atop his head, the moonlight dimly keeping just bright enough to tell what was a few feet ahead of him at all times, the crickets chirping about every few minutes, the cicadas constantly screaming. What a life they lived, allowed to scream into the open air whenever they so pleased without any sort of consequence. If only real life were that simple and forgiving.


End file.
